Worker accused of stealing from Flagler Beach church

Friday

Aug 8, 2014 at 3:35 PMAug 8, 2014 at 11:12 PM

A Palm Coast man was arrested on burglary and grand theft charges following allegations he removed cash from a money bag at a Flagler Beach church and tried several times to break into the church’s safe.

By Tony Holttony.holt@news-jrnl.com

BUNNELL — A Palm Coast man was arrested on burglary and grand theft charges following allegations he removed cash from a money bag at a Flagler Beach church and tried several times to break into the church’s safe.Vincenzo Cazzaniga, 54, turned himself in Thursday afternoon to the Flagler Beach Police Department one day after he was first questioned about the crimes, according to an arrest report.Police were initially called Aug. 1 when an office manager at Santa Maria Del Mar Church reported the missing money. Five days later, the same office manager told investigators he reviewed security camera footage and saw Cazzaniga, a maintenance worker at the church, entering the break room and making several attempts to open the safe, police said.The video shows Cazzaniga entering the break room Aug. 3 on seven separate occasions to try to break into the safe, according to the arrest report.Police said Cazzaniga tried five times to enter a code into the safe’s key pad during the early part of the afternoon and then tried two more times after changing the batteries to the key pad. Cazzaniga was unsuccessful during all seven attempts to get into the safe, police said.Cazzaniga was told at the end of his first police interview Wednesday that church officials did not want him back on the property, so he was issued a trespass warning, according to the arrest report.Police said Cazzaniga made off with about $539 when he took the money from the bag. The cash came from a church offering on July 23, the report states.Cazzaniga was charged with two counts each of burglary of a dwelling and grand theft. His next court date is set for Sept. 9.He was booked shortly before 4:20 p.m. Thursday at the Flagler County Detention Facility and released after posting $1,500 bail, according to jail records.